Shawn Joseph not to blame for Metro schools' issues, Vanderbilt education professors say in op-ed

Correction: A previous version of this story misstated when Joseph started with MNPS. 

A group of Vanderbilt University education professors said they believe former Metro Nashville Public Schools director Shawn Joseph is not to blame for Metro Schools' issues that were cited as the reasons for his ouster in April.

More than 30 professors jointly wrote and signed a op-ed published May 6 in The Tennessean that cited "inadequate" funding as the largest challenge to MNPS. They argue that Joseph should not be blamed for the district's lack of funding, but rather an unwillingness by the state to fund adequate education for “other people’s children.”

In less than three years, Joseph, the professors wrote, focused on "students’ social and emotional development" through instruction, not remediation.

"Current research, accepted theory and best practice all support this stance," the professors wrote. "We do too."

Instead, the education professors believe that misguided intentions by school board members and others curbed Joseph's efforts and the progress of the school district.

"We’ve observed a crisis created by board members resistant to the limits of their own role and self-appointed community watchdogs blind to the history and context of public education in this city and fed by a minority of local media who have made their own importance the message," the professors wrote.

Joseph was the Metro Schools director from May 2016 until April, when the district and Joseph agreed to a deal resulting in his exit. The MNPS school board voted in March to not renew Joseph's contract, which had a year remaining.

The board agreed to pay $261,250 for Joseph's contract as part of a buyout agreement. 

Adrienne Battle replaced Joseph as the interim director. Battle is the first female MNPS director.

You can see read the op-ed here.

Vanderbilt University education professors who signed Op-ed in support of Shawn Joseph

Ana Christina da Silva [Iddings], Ph.D., 

David Dickinson, Ed.D.

Dale C. Farran, PhD

Rogers Hall, Ph.D.

Ilana Seidel Horn, Ph.D.

Robert T. Jiménez, Ph.D.

Kevin Leander, Ph.D.

Rich Milner, Ph.D.

Deborah Wells Rowe, Ph.D.

Barbara S. Stengel, Ph.D.

Anita A. Wager, PhD

Shannon M. Daniel, Ph.D.

Amanda Goodwin, Ph.D.

Melissa Sommerfeld Gresalfi, Ph.D.

Andrew L. Hostetler, Ph.D.

Melanie Hundley, Ph. D.

Heather J. Johnson, Ph.D.

Ebony O. McGee, Ph.D.

Catherine McTamaney, Ed.D.

Ann M. Neely, Ph.D.

Corey Brady, Ph.D.

Teresa K. Dunleavy, Ph.D.

Nicole M. Joseph, Ph.D.

Elizabeth A. Self, Ph.D.

Tesha Sengupta-Irving, Ph.D.

Jeanne Peter, Ph.D.

Molly Collins, Ph.D.

Andrea Henrie, Ph.D.

Kristen W. Neal, Ph.D.

Justine Marie Bruyère, Ph.D.

Rebecca Peterson, M.Ed.

Kathy Ganske, Ph.D. 

Lisa Pray, Ph.D. 

Jessica Watkins, Ph.D.